I discovered recently that there was a new restaurant in Downtown Markham called Terre Rouge - Contemporary French Bistro headed by Forrest Liu. From the online reviews of multiple sources (mostly sponsored postings), the postings were mostly positive to outstanding. Normally I would take such comments with a grain of salt but this place was trying to be the upscale restaurant of the north (ex. 7 course tasting dinner menu for $85 ). As such, I decided it might be worth visiting. Fast forward to the visit, my foodie colleague and I decided to visit for lunch.

Atmosphere:
Overall, the decor and location of the restaurant were positive and vibrant. The location was right across the open pool area with the children carousel. They have an open view kitchen on the first floor. However, it was revolting to look at. The whole bar area was covered with food prep trays, tools, etc ... Definitely a mess to look at (similar to what my kids do when they trash the play area).

Service:
The front staff were nice and friendly. The manager asked various tables about the food quality but never came directly to us. There were only like 5 tables in this afternoon service ... Sadly, this was the end of the good things.

Food:From the menu, it was a mixture of french asian fusion with locally sourced ingredients. We both got the lunch prix set menu (2/3 courses for $22). I personally got the duck confit - duck skin was completely overly soaked in glaze sauce without much attention to the duck itself. The duck skin was so crispy and hard that the texture was that of jerky meats. The fries were a miss for me - crispy/burnt. McDonalds could have done a better job... I got to sample some of the black cod dish from my colleague. He commented that it was just average dish with nothing spectacular.

In my mind, I was thinking of the quote from the Martian movie- "Are you f**king kidding me?" I was searching for new places for bringing potential clients but this meal just killed the opportunity with this crap. With that being said, I got to do the due diligence to read real reviews on people who didn't get "sponsored" postings. The hype in the media especially Instagram was for nothing.